I have been a CPA for over 30 years focusing on taxation. I have extensive experience with partnerships, real estate and high net worth individuals.
My ideology can be summarized at least metaphorically by this quote:
"I have a total irreverence for anything connected with society except that which makes the roads safer, the beer stronger, the food cheaper and the old men and old women warmer in the winter and happier in the summer." - Brendan Behan
Nobody I work for has any responsibility for what goes into this blog and you should make no inference that they approve of it or even have read it.

I’ve been following “Occupy Wall” Street on Facebook since it began. In case you have been a victim of the corporate media blackout “Occupy Wall Street” is a group of people camped out in the New York City financial district. They describe themselves as:

Occupy Wall Street is leaderless resistance movement with people of many colors, genders and political persuasions. The one thing we all have in common is that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%.

Nearly two weeks into a sit-in at a park in Manhattan’s financial district, the “leaderless resistance movement” calling itself Occupy Wall Street is at a crossroads. The number of protesters on scene so far tops out at a few hundred, tiny by Athens or Cairo standards. But the traction they have gained from run-ins with police, a live feed from their encampment and celebrity visits is upping expectations. How about some specific demands, a long-term strategy, maybe even … office space?

So far the group, which generally defines itself as anti-greed, has none of those.

I called my activist friend Tom Cahill, who has guest posted here. Responding from his gentrified barn near the Mendocino Coast, Tom was unaware that the movement was still going on, which he attributes to a corporate media blackout. I attribute it to Tom not being able to deal with Facebook, where I have been getting regular updates from his ex-wife. He thinks it possible that the real leaders are laying low. I asked him if he wanted to be my roving reporter. I’m itching to go down there myself, but second tax season has another couple of weeks to go. Tom declined on grounds of age.

In terms of a specific proposal, I’ve yet to see anybody talking about “carried interests“, which seems odd since that has become the poster provision for people upset about the financial system. I’m dying to have an extended discussion of the subtleties of Subchapter K with some young anarchists. I finally did find someone pitching a specific proposal to the group:

The protesters — marching since Sept. 17 in the financial district, especially at the opening and closing stock-exchange bells — also got advice from a small grassroots political party for a specific demand they could call for.

They could call for a 50-cent Wall Street stock-trade surcharge, which it said would boost the U.S. economy at least $350 billion a year, Light Party founder Da Vic Raphael told United Press International Thursday night. I kind of like that one. Maybe it would put a dent in market volatility. One more proposal that won’t cost Warren Buffett that much since he thinks the ideal holding period is forever.

I rarely wish that I was sixteen again, but this is one of those times. When I was sixteen I worked on Wall Street, part of the army of runners that were necessary to the smooth running of the system. With occasional side jobs like getting lunch for partners, we spent the morning delivering paper stock certificates and the afternoon picking up checks. No question I would be dropping in at the park if I had the chance. I’m hoping to have some guest posts from people who know more about what is going on. It looks like it will still be going when second tax season ends so I’ll be making a visit in a couple of weeks. I’ll let you know what it is like unless the corporate media blackout police finally catch up with me. It’s only a matter of time.

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We have an incredible opportunity in front of us to support those that are speaking out and to communicate the stories that our main stream media is not covering. Did you know that Iceland recently re-wrote their constitution with the help of social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter? This was done using horizontal democracy which is what I feel we are all trying to develop. I think it’s really important in times like these that we look for positive examples that we can use as a model for our own necessary changes.

Here is a blog that documented the process that Iceland went through socially, economically, and politically that resulted in a brand new constitution. http://wilmaswish.blogspot.com/

Occupy Wall Street is an on-going demonstration opposing what participants view as negative corporate influence over US politics and a lack of repercussions over the global financial crisis. It was inspired by the Arab Spring movement, which resulted in the 2011 Egyptian Revolution. The aim of the protest is to begin a sustained occupation of Wall Street to draw attention to Wall Street’s misdeeds and call for structural economic reforms. But this is a protest on everything any person wants to protest. Protesters have been addressing a mishmash of concerns and causes — from war to income inequality to corporate influence in politics. Whatever one might say about Occupy Wall Street, it’s hard to accuse it of being a single-issue movement. Some said they have come to register their dismay over the environment. Some are there to protest military occupations in other countries. At least a few were moved to attend after the September 21 execution of Troy Davis. Even more people came out to protest the police brutality that took place at this event. One protester said it best, “What’s change? What’s not change? We’re here. That’s change.”

“that We Are The 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%”? Why do Dems think they have a right to other peoples money? Are these protesters working 70 hours a week? If not they have no right to complain that they do not have enough money! As to the greed and corruption Bill Gates has already given more money to charity than anyone in history. I will never understand how Dems brains work…or if they do work.

Vlad, why do the 1% think they can live in our country without paying their fair share? As Elizabeth Warren stated, we paid for their roads, we educated their children, we ensure their safety with our police force and firemen. What’s worse is the 1% think they can just buy deregulation and dump waste in our waters, poison our food supply, and pollute our air? The greed is at the top, not the bottom. Stop worshipping the rich, they exploit you and laugh at you for voting against your own best interest.

Thank you for this report! As one of the generation turning 30 (and strongly identifying with many of the stories here – http://wearethe99percent.tumblr.com/), I’ve been glued to the news – and non-news – about these events. I started collecting coverage I found useful here: http://www.rachelka.com/?p=3884.

Your perspective is so valuable, because many of us are NOT economists. We understand, viscerally feel, and see proof that our system is corrupt, unbalanced, and unsustainable, but many of us don’t understand the nitty gritties of how that has happened – and thus how to change it. I think that’s part of the reason why the group is taking their time to come forth with specific demands… they are gathering to talk about it, and to raise awareness. Which I find admirable! Coming together to raise awareness and conversation about very complex, tangled issues, publicly yet peacefully — versus instantly making a bunch of rash simplistic demands — is that really so disorganized and aimless and immature (as much of the press would propose)? On the contrary, I think our country needs much more of this kind of public dialogue in the streets.

It is a mistake to gloss over the real lowered expectations of this college and recently graduated generation of Americans. To do so in such a facetious manner adds insult to the error. If you would like to know what is happening at Liberty Square, I will gladly and objectively fill you in. Foremost is the building perception among younger Americans that their government has abandoned them and their future in order to protect and save portfolios wholly owned by the Boomer generation. One only has to compare legal actions taken, indictments served and felony convictions resulting from the Savings & Loan crisis of the “80s/”90s and those resulting from the recent mortgage derivative & banking collapse, which is by some measure 40 times worse than the S&L crisis. The gov’t pursued and attained over 1000 convictions related to the S&L crisis. So far there have been approximately 10 or a dozen convictions relating to current malefactions of wealth. Therein lies the crux of why these mostly young, hopeful and politically determined activists are now squatting in Liberty Square. They want their government to better protect and serve their futures, and have real and serious reason to believe they have been abandoned to the caprices of the stock market and whims of the bankers. These are genuine issues being voiced by genuinely concerned and angered individuals. They are young, they are ragtag in appearance and they are outliers. But as history shows, when young, ragtag outliers come together so do politics and patriotism. Moreover and critical for all to understand, this has nothing to do with the 1960s and the days of Tom Hayden, et al. It is in no way connected to Grateful Dead, bell bottom yore and Flower Power lore. It is all about concerned, informed, mostly young Americans trying to bring issues to the forefront that we all must deal with. You can look at Liberty Square as a place where past and future separate.

It is a mistake to gloss over the real lowered expectations of this college and recently graduated generation of Americans. To do so in such a facetious manner adds insult to the error

The facestious manner is absolutely my default style in writing about anything. Sorry if it seems insulting. On the other hand my not knowing exactly what it is about is literal. I resisted the temptation to bring in quotes from the Strawberry Statement and the like. I think some of the connections being made to the labor movement are really interesting and by way of contrast to construction workers beating the crap out of student protesters on Wall Street in 1969 (Maybe it was 1970).